Tomorrow May Not Be
by eugene-the-artichoke
Summary: Lily Evans has always hated James Potter. However, changes in his emotional and physical behaviour occur, and Lily wonders if she can help a Marauder she never liked.
1. Chapter One: Siriusly Annoyed

**A/N:** I had originally posted this awhile ago but took it down because I wasn't too pleased with it, and I'm still a little skeptical. I was inspired to write it after watching a really good movie. It's from **_Bollywood,_ **and it's called **Kal Ho Naa Ho. **

It's my first try at chaptered fic in a long time, so any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Please read and review!

To **all** of my reviewers (up to this point) on my other fics: _foreverdreaming28, LegolasFanGirl27, Strawberry-ksc, Chemically Induced, Bobbie Socks, Starsong- Dragon, xDraconiax, Taintless, Catchy Pen Name, Iselin, and koalangel. _You guys are absolutely amazing, and I appreciate your reviews so much more than you know.

Thanks a million.

Finally, the first chapter is dedicated to _Celi. _This is because she was my first reviewer of this story and on this site when I posted the original story on here way back when. Thanks.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, items, or places related to it. I also don't own the song "Walk like an Egyptian" by The Bangles. This story is also loosely based on the Hindi movie **Kal Ho Naa Ho**.

Now, on to the story…

**Tomorrow May Not Be**

Written by: eugene-the-artichoke

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**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

"Wha-"muttered 20 year-old Lily Evans. She opened one eye sleepily but all she saw was bright red. _Damn hair, _thought Lily. She moved her hair aside sloppily with one arm. She tried to move her hand towards the _SNOOZE_ button on her alarm clock, but she couldn't find it. Finally, her hand settled on something round and slightly more elevated then the rest of the clock…

"Aha…" she said triumphantly. She banged the button down…_ hard_. The beeping ceased.

"Thank God!" said Lily. She snuggled deeper into her bed, ready to fall asleep again. That party last night had really taken a lot out of her. _Stupid ministry parties_.

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

She decided to leave it and see if she could sleep through it.

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

It was _slightly_ annoying but she still tried to sleep through it.

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

_Maybe it'll go off,_ she thought hopefully. This last statement seemed to be correct as the beeping ceased. Just when she was falling back asleep…

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

"Shut up, damnit! All I want is some peace," Lily buried her head under the covers, hoping the fluffy white duvet was soundproof.

When the "alarm from hell", as she dubbed it, failed to ring again, she settled back comfortably. Glad for the peace and quiet, she still knew that she was forgetting something.

Then it hit her.

After the _fourth_ "BEEP", she was pretty sure the rad—

**They snap their teeth on your cigarette.  
Foreign types with the hookah pipes say,  
Oh whey oh, oh whey oh  
Walk like an Egyptian…**

— _The radio._

"ARGGGHHH!" yelled the red-haired monster to no one in particular. She jumped out of bed disgruntled_. Freakin' alarm, _she thought viciously. "Are you here to torture me!"

"Actually, just here to wake you up," said a deep voice with an obvious hint of amusement. She grabbed her wand off the nightstand and spun around to see…

Well, it wasn't Voldemort, like she had anticipated It was a slightly less dangerous creature. _Slightly_ less dangerous. 

Lily turned to her now open door and saw a tall, handsome man standing in the doorway a smile playing at his lips.

Stupid men, especially this man. Lily gave the intruding visitor a look of disgust. "Well, good morning sunshine!" said the man obviously pleased with himself. 

Lily wasn't amused.

"Goddamn you Sirius!" she sighed and walked into her bathroom. She grabbed a brush off of the counter and started to brush her wild red hair. Her hair was not co-operating, much to her dislike.

"What did I do? I just came to wake you up! You sleep like the dead!" he said impatiently. Realizing he had insulted a slightly temperamental witch, he hastily tried to cover up his fluke. "Didn't want you late for work now do I?" he said trying to put on a face of innocence and sincerity.

He was failing miserably.

Lily glared at him and said, "You and I both know that we were given the morning off due to last night's party." Sirius tried to fake a look of shock at hearing this news, but one look at Lily's face and he knew she wasn't buying it.

"Oh yeah….I forgot," he tried hopefully. Seeing this wasn't working, Sirius tried to change the topic. "Hey Lil, you know with your hair like that it looks like your head's on fire!"

Lily just gave a look to Sirius that clearly stated she wasn't amused by his pathetic attempt at a joke _(though she knew a small part of it was true)._ Lily however knew she couldn't stay mad at the man in front of her. He was just too…..well, all she knew was that she couldn't stay mad at him. Since the day they had met, they had become good friends.

Lily grabbed some clothes out of her drawers and quickly changed in the bathroom. When she came out, she saw Sirius sitting on her unmade bed, and she couldn't help but wonder why she was friends with this strange man.

They had met at the initiation meeting of New Aurors at the Ministry. Both Lily and Sirius were 3 years out of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when this event had occurred. They had been in the same training group together, and had been placed in the same department after they had become full-fledged Aurors.

"So Lil, have you heard from Remus yet?" asked Sirius, with a small smile on his face. Remus had been due to arrive from Morocco any day now. He was on official ministry business.

Lily replied, "He said he's coming back in the evening today. I'm supposed to pick him up at the Floo station tonight at 7:00. Why, didn't he tell you?"

Sirius smirked and said, "No, he doesn't tell me anything anymore. You're his _partner._"

Lily just sighed. Some things never change. "Oh god, Black! Isn't that getting old yet?" she asked, smiling. Sirius had been using the same line for the past 9 months. This was because 9 months ago, the new Aurors had been assigned their partners. Lily was with Remus, one of Sirius' best friends. Now usually, you would think that Sirius teased Lily because he was jealous but that was not the case. Sirius just enjoyed pissing other people off. Sirius was with someone he was more compatible with anyway….James.

_ Ah, James Potter_, thought Lily. Sirius and James were like brothers. In fact, if you told a lot of people they weren't, they would have demanded a DNA test. James and Sirius were alike in many ways…but still as Lily grudgingly admitted, they were different in others. They both were tall, dark and handsome. However, in two completely contrasting ways. Sirius was the mysterious bad boy who caught your eye and James was the hero who everyone just loved.

With the exception of Lily.

Lily disliked James with every fibre of her being. James, on the other hand, thought that Lily was infatuated with him and was denying those feelings. Unsurprisingly enough, Sirius and Remus agreed with him. _But then again Sirius isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, _thought Lily.

She hated James for one reason and one reason only. He was the world's most **VAIN** person.

This was a huge understatement in Lily's opinion. His head was so swollen, it was almost unbelievable. And the worst part of it was that no one else saw it but her. Everyone else thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, including himself. Lily even preferred _**Sirius** _over James, and that was saying something.

"So Lily," said Sirius making her jump out of her reverie.

He smirked at her, knowing full well he had startled her. She focused her attention on Sirius not wanting to give away what or _who _she had currently been thinking of. Unfortunately, she knew Sirius wasn't willing to give in that easily. Willing herself not to blush furiously _(not because she felt anything for James, but because of the implication Sirius would surely make, she told herself),_ she looked at him.

"Yeah?" she said trying for nonchalance.

"Were we thinking about a certain male friend of mine?"

At her raised eyebrow, he continued, "Because as soon as I mentioned a topic that was in regard to him….you started daydreaming. Presumably about running together in a meadow, hand in hand, daisies in your hair, feeding each other strawberries. Am I correct?"

Lily, trying to fight from laughing at the phrase 'running in a meadow', responded quickly.

"Sirius, for the last time, I DON'T fancy James, and I believe that I've made that perfectly clear on several occasions," she said without thinking. As soon as the words left her mouth, Lily felt herself blush. _Damn mouth, she _cringed. Lily, hoping against hope, that Sirius would miss the fluke.

He didn't.

"Aha!" said Sirius, pointing his index finger in the air, like he had just solved an extremely difficult problem.

"What?" asked Lily trying to look confused. She also noted that Sirius looked idiotic with the "Eureka"-type pose. _But then again it is Sirius, _she thought to herself wryly. All he needed was a bathtub and he'd be set.

"You," said Sirius in an extremely superior tone, "are attracted to James!"

Lily just responded in what she hoped was a calm tone, "And how did you reach that conclusion, genius, when I just stated that I do not in fact fancy your idiot of a friend."

"You see," Sirius explained in that annoyingly superior tone once again, "I said 'Were we thinking about a certain male friend of mine' but I never specified who. You automatically assumed it was James, even though it was Remus that was the current topic of our conversation!"

At Lily's look of disbelief, he continued, "Lily, dear, don't deny it. James and I both know you have always been deeply in love with him. I guess you just can't control your desire, anymore." He finished this with a dramatic sigh.

Lily snorted. _Desire. Oh, what's that? Hell just froze over?_

"Laugh now, young Lily, but soon you'll see the truth. Women are just drawn to James and me like flies to honey," finished Sirius with a sigh.

"Oh really?" responded Lily, with sarcasm dripping heavily from her voice.

Sirius didn't catch on. "Really. Just face it, Lily.You've got James on the brain."

Lily gave another un-ladylike snort.

"Nice try, Sirius. If I had the IQ of precisely 3, I might have just bought your story. But unfortunately I don't."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but Lily cut him off.

"Forget it Sirius. Whatever twisted ideas you may have about me and James are completely off the mark. Let's just go into the office early and work out in the gym for awhile, alright?"

" Okay, but—" Unfortunately, he was cut off again.

"I'm Apparating straight to Headquarters, alright? Don't go straight to the gym, I want to stop by my office first." And before he could say anything else, there was a CRACK! and Lily was gone.

Sirius sighed heavily. Bloody wench left before he could ask her his question. It was important too.

Slowly, he plucked out his wand and got ready to Apparate, concentrating in his mind's eye on the big, imposing Entrance of the Aurors Headquarters at the Ministry of Magic. Twisting the wand in jerky hand movement, he muttered, "Bloody redheads. Think they're too smart for their own good. I just wanted to know what IQ meant!"

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**A/N: **Questions, comments, suggestions? Review... 


	2. Chapter Two: Unhealthy Obsession

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, items, or places related to it, the genius Jo Rowling does. This story is loosely based on the Hindi movie **Kal Ho Naa Ho**.

**A/N:** I'm sorry about the wait between the two chapters. Thanks to _Betsy, Carbon Monoxide, _and_ Celi_ for being the first reviewers on this fic.

I don't think I'll get another chapter out before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince releases, so HAPPY READING to everyone. I hope you all really enjoy it…I know I will.

This chapter is dedicated to Fred and George as some of the dialogue in this chapter is inspired by them…and because I love them to both to pieces.

This chapter is also for J.K. Rowling, who I'm just **so** grateful to. I couldn't live without all her wonderful books, and that's the truth.

**Tomorrow may not be**

Written by: eugene-the-artichoke

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POP!

Lily apparated to the special point set up in the Ministry from her flat. It was at times like these when Lily truly appreciated being an Auror, since they were the only ones beside the Minister and Dumbledore to be allowed to directly apparate into the Ministry. It saved _so_ much time, just going directly inside instead of apparating outside and then walking inside.

As the redhead walked past the crowded cubicles, small alcoves, and large offices, she was greeted by a number of people, co-workers and friends alike. Obviously, despite being given the day off, many dedicated Aurors and members of the Hit-Squad had come in to put in a couple of extra hours.

After weaving her way through the different sections, she finally arrived at her fairly large office. Reciting the incantation that would allow her access to the heavily guarded area, she quietly slipped in, shutting the door behind her. Once inside, Lily quickly put the security wards back up with skillful precision. The door flashed blue for an instant, to show that they were in place. Turning away, Lily began to rummage through her desk drawer.

After throwing aside half the contents of the drawer, she abruptly stopped. With a triumphant AHA, she fished out a thick brown envelope. Sitting on her desk chair, Lily quickly skimmed through the letter that Remus had sent her from Morocco. She had told Sirius seven o'clock, but she wanted to double-check the time.

As she shifted in her chair, the envelope fell of her lap. While bending to retrieve it, Lily saw that a photograph had fallen aside. Picking it up, she smiled as she saw the slightly burnt face of Remus Lupin smiling back at her.

Wearing a pair of worn beige summer robes, he looked more relaxed than she had ever seen him. However, Lily knew that once he came back to England he wouldn't be so happy. Recent events would be sure to kill his mood, and she knew that within days the bags would reappear under his kind gray eyes.

The wizarding world was so bloody prejudiced sometimes that Lily really hated it. Remus, as a werewolf, was looked down upon and feared. Therefore, when the threat of Voldemort was brought up in her seventh year, it was both a blessing and a curse. People had no choice but to unite. Werewolves and other creatures were accepted into society and were allowed the same rights as any other witch or wizard. Remus was lucky that he was allowed to work at all, much less in a distinguished position like an Auror.

Unfortunately, with the upcoming Ministry summit, the issue of magical creatures in society was going to be heavily discussed. What was even more distressing was that the outcome was said not to be favourable towards the creatures.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Lily was snapped out of her reverie by the pounding on her door. _Sirius_, she thought wryly. Honestly, it was like that man was unable to leave her in peace for more than five minutes at a time.

Then again, she had asked him to meet her in the office.

"Lily!" he yelled, sounding more than a little hacked off.

"What?"

"Open this door, right now!" was his angry response.

Wondering what had him so riled up, Lily answered, "Why don't you do it yourself?"(even though she knew there was no possible way he could). He had seemed pretty amiable when she left him at her flat.

She soon found out.

"I tried to and all I got was a bad shock in a rather private place."

_Oh, so that works then_, thought Lily. She had never had the opportunity to test the security measures out. But then again, no one had ever been stupid enough to try to enter the redhead's quarters by force.

"Lily, open the hell up!" Sirius was sounding more and more irritated.

Lily decided to irritate him a _little_ more.

"What's the magic word?" Lily snickered to herself. That would piss him off. Sirius hated manners.

In response, Sirius whined, "_Alohomora_, but I already tried it and it doesn't work!"

_ Oh yeah_, she thought to herself. It was bad idea to try a muggle joke on a pureblood. It just made her seem like a bloody idiot.

"No, you moron, I meant 'please', not the actual _magic _word." Lily heard a soft moan of comprehension outside the door, and satisfied she got her point across, she quickly disabled the wards.

Almost immediately Sirius burst into the room cheerful as ever. Honestly, the man had more mood swings than was humanly and _male-ly, _possible. He unceremoniously dropped onto the now vacant chair behind her desk, and started to look through the papers and folders that lay on her desk.

Before, she could reach across to grab Remus' open package, Sirius got a hold of it. Slowly he looked up, and with a grin that could put a Cheshire cat to shame, Sirius said, "Lily, Lily, Lily. Now I understand why you're in denial." Wondering what he was going to come up next, Lily remained silent.

Sirius did not disappoint.

"You have feelings for _both_ Remus and James."

_Jesus Christ, he just doesn't quit,_ was the first thing that ran through her mind. However, before Lily could make her standard protests, Sirius continued, "I realize that it's difficult Lily, but you can't lead these poor boys on. It's not right. Someone will just end up heartbroken and I don't want to see it happen to anyone," Here Sirius gave a little sniff, "You should really make up your mind before you get yourself in trouble."

Lily couldn't believe her ears. "Sirius, did we not have this conversation less than ten minutes ago? Remus is my _partner_. I harbour NO romantic feelings for him, whatsoever. James is an _idiot_. Once again, I harbour NO romantic feelings for him either."

Sirius' triumphant smile faded for about one second (and Lily thought that she had finally succeeded), before returning in what appeared to be full-force.

"For now, I'll drop the Potter subject, but I know, _I know_, that you fancy Remus. It's so obvious. You even like him to the point of obsession." Gesturing to the letters and package, Sirius continued his little rant, "Why else would you save all his letters? I bet you read them every day. Probably fantasizing about you two together…"

Lily groaned.

Thankfully, he was finished. "Anyway, while you remain in heavy DENIAL, I'm taking off to the gym. I hope Longbottom's there, because I'm going to punch his face in. Bloody Frank told Sheila that I was gay before I went out with her on Friday." Lily gave a loud guffaw, forgetting for the moment that she was thoroughly exasperated with the man in front of her.

Sirius glared at her. "It's not funny. I asked her to come back to my place. At first, I was really confused. Instead of doing _you know what_, she kept asking me for hair tips and telling me about how she had had the worst cramps the other day. It was disgusting," Sirius pulled a face, "When she asked me whether I ever dress up in drag, I figured it out."

By now, Lily was on the floor howling and laughing uncontrollably, to the point that tears were streaming down her face. To think that Sirius, playboy-extraordinaire, was outsmarted by plain, ol' Frank Longbottom. She pictured the scenario of Sheila "girl-talking" with Sirius, and she cracked up all over again. Sirius quickly shot her "the death glare". When she finally got a stitch in her side, she realized she better stop before Sirius' face remained permanently fixed that way.

Sighing, Sirius helped her off the floor. Slowly they started to make their way down to the gym, Lily frantically trying to catch her breath, the only sound in the hallway of the East Wing.

Sick of the silence, Lily tried to make conversation. Wheezing painfully, as they walked to the gym, all Lily could think of to say was, "Remind me to thank Frank when I see him."

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**A/N: **Well, that was fun. I really did enjoy writing that chapter. Once again, I sincerely hope that everyone enjoys Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It's going to be incredible, and I'm so excited!

Questions, comments, suggestions? Review…


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